


Red Sky at Morning (Sailors Take Warning)

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-19 06:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4737062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"An environmentalist, a tattoo artist, two marine biologists, a foreign reporter, and a merman walk into a bar..."<br/>"Mermen can't walk, Geoff."<br/>"Okay, but come on. This is one hell of a ragtag group."</p><p>A beached merman is discovered in the aftermath of a huge oil spill and his rescuers are, subsequently, forced to deal with not only learning to get along, but also having to avoid the attention of the media and the government.<br/>(Spoiler: None of which goes very smoothly.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In which Geoff and Jack find a merman, and Gavin is nosy (no pun intended).
> 
> \--------------------
> 
> This chapter is a bit dialogue heavy, but by chapter three it should be more balanced. 
> 
> Also my muse is like the most finicky thing in the world, so I'm sorry in advance if the updates aren't super regular.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! <3

Walking down the beach just before sunset was supposed to be romantic, what with the horizon’s orange glow fading into twilight’s quiet violet haze. Despite the sky’s beauty, the beach was currently lacking. Instead of soft white sand, it was splattered with thick, dark sludge. The water did not sparkle beneath the sun’s rays. Rather, it too was coated in several inches of foul oil and several scattered fish carcasses. A few had been washed ashore, accompanied by the occasional seabird. The live ones had been taken away as quickly as possible in order to be treated and cleaned, but not all had been so lucky. It was tragic to take in.

Two men—a conservationist and his friend-turned-volunteer—walked along the messy shore, eyes sweeping for oil-covered creatures a mile or three away from the other volunteers and workers.

“We should probably turn back soon, Geoff,” said one.

“Alright,” came the other’s response. “Let’s just hit those rocks up ahead before we call it quits.”

Who knew that such a simple choice like that would change their lives?

They lapsed into silence once again, one mourning the seemingly endless loss of marine life and the other trying to believe in the illusion of a beautiful sunset. They closed the distance between themselves and the outcrop without exchanging another word. Upon arrival, the two clambered up on top of the rocks and cautiously began picking their way across. Geoff paused when he got around the first major boulder, drawing his eyebrows together in confusion.

“Hey, Jack. Come take a look at this.” Geoff’s voice was low and edged with confusion. “There’s, like… a guy in the water.”

“What?” Jack made his way over the rocks to his friend, the disbelief in his eyes only growing as something came into view, and yes, it was a beached man.

His hair was drenched in oil and matted to his face, and his skin was covered in globs of oil as well. Jack frowned, and opened his mouth to say something else before freezing, shock joining the disbelief.

“G-Geoff…!”

The other man’s eyes slid back towards the water, and he too parted his lips in awe. “W..What the _fuck_ , dude?”

As the water receded, a scaly, dull orange tail was revealed in place of legs.

“That’s… That’s a fucking mermaid. What the fuck.”

Jack jumped down and made his way over to the unconscious creature without saying a word. Geoff threw his arms out to the sides.

“What are you doing?!” he spluttered. “Don’t go near that thing—are you insane?!”

“We need to get rid of him,” Jack said without looking back.

“What?” Geoff shuffled around the rocks restlessly but didn’t yet follow Jack. “We should go and get _help_ , shouldn’t we?”

The other man paused and glanced over his shoulder. “Do you really want somebody else to find him? There’s oil everywhere and now it’s killed a mermaid. A _mermaid_ , Geoff. I’ve just got this gut feeling, I don’t know, some instinct or—” He cut himself off and took a breath. “Look, this is a big fucking discovery and I _get_ that, but—but I think it should just stay between us.” Seeing Geoff raise his eyebrows, Jack quickly added, “No, no, I mean… We don’t have a lot of time to think about this, okay? If merpeople exist—which _apparently_ they do—then other people will want to find them. Probably catch them or hunt them or… Well, they’ll _hurt_ them, Geoff. You _know_ they will.”

“Woah, hey, easy. Easy.” Geoff held his hands up defensively before starting to move towards them. “You’re probably right. Okay? You’re right. I just wasn’t expecting to find a goddamn _mermaid_ today. And I don’t want you to get some, like, merperson disease. Or whatever.”

“There is oil everywhere—we are wearing _protective suits_ ,” Jack deadpanned. “I think I’ll be okay.”

Geoff whined. “Yes, alright. Whatever. _Whatever_. You win. Hold on, I’m coming.”

He eased into the shallows next to Jack, grimacing as he returned his attention to the creature. The merman’s arms were wrapped around one of the rocks, limp but still enough to keep him from drifting back into sea. They were about to pick him up when suddenly, a loud gasp escaped Geoff and he swatted Jack’s hands away from the merman.

“Wait, wait… Is that…? Is he _breathing_?”

Jack paused, frowning. “I think it’s just an illusion from the water.” Still, to humor Geoff, he continued, “But let’s get him up on the rocks to make sure.”

The two worked to lift the merman, a task that proved to be more difficult than expected. The tail made it so that the creature cleared eight feet long with ease, nor was it the lightest of appendages, but they managed. They laid him out on his back on the flatter of the rocks and stepped away. Indeed, after a moment his chest could be seen rising and falling, albeit very faintly. Jack blanched at the sight of it.

“Oh, fuck.” Geoff blew out a long puff of air. “ _Fuck_. Are you serious? _Now_ what do we do?”

The ginger-haired man looked conflicted. If he’d thought that the government getting their hands on a body would have been bad... Well, now they had a living merman. Great. “Here, let’s just… Let’s just get to the shore first.”

They lifted the unconscious merman again and clambered off of the outcrop, not stopping until they were to a cleaner area of the beach—several yards inland.

“Okay,” Jack murmured, once they’d settled him on the sand. “Okay. A real, live merman. _Okay_.”

“What do we do?” Geoff asked again, looking worried. “You’re the fancy environmentalist or whatever here.”

“I don’t know. There’s already media swarming the beach because of the oil spill…”

“Yeah, I know—oh fuck.” Geoff’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Speaking of… Somebody’s coming. Stay here—I’ll turn ‘em around.”

Jack couldn’t get out a single word before Geoff was striding away, steps large and purposeful.

“Hey!” the latter called. “We’ve got this one taken care of, no worries!”

“What is it, anyway?” a British voice replied, after a moment. “Thing looks _massive_! Did a dolphin wash up?” The stranger made a whining sound. “Oh, I hope not. This is bad enough as it is, isn’t it?”

 _What dolphin is half orange and half white?_ Geoff, briefly, thought about asking, as he closed the remaining distance between himself and the new arrival. But instead, he said, “Ah, something like that. Look, uh…” He gestured questioningly.

“Gavin Free.” He was a young, lanky man with wild hair and curious eyes.

“Look, Gavin, you’re just a reporter, right?” Geoff nodded to the camera in the stranger’s hands. “Sorry, buddy, but I really don’t think you should get too involved with the actual, like, rescuing of animals and all—it’s, kinda messy, y’know? Sucks to see what human mistakes can cause.”

“Uh.” Gavin tried to peer around Geoff, and frowned as the latter moved as well to prevent him from looking. “I was just—can’t I take some pictures? I’m a freelance journalist, and not even here as a hire. I wanted to document the spill, personally. For my own project.”

Geoff’s only response was the narrowing of his eyes.

“Please?” Gavin bounced back on his heels, still craning his neck in an attempt to see what Geoff and Jack were hiding. “You’re acting all suspicious! Why can’t I see?”

Still no reply.

“Here, I won’t—I won’t even take any pictures, how about that?”

“Well, what’s the point, then?” Geoff retorted, furrowing his brow.

Gavin waved his arms around. “You’ve got me all curious! I want to know what you’ve got back there!”

“It’s just a dolphin,” Geoff stated flatly.

“I don’t believe you.”

The gent shook his head firmly. “Just go back—”

Gavin moved abruptly, shouldering right past Geoff and marching towards Jack.

“Hey!” barked Geoff. “No—don’t—you prick—”

But they were close enough to Jack that soon enough, Geoff’s efforts didn’t matter. Gavin froze, eyes doubling in size as he registered what was lying on the sand. Geoff sighed heavily, walking over to Jack and muttering an apology.

The foreign reporter threw his hands in the air and began spluttering at the other two, sounds but no words bubbling from his throat. Jack crossed his arms, a grim look etched across his features. He and Geoff waited in tense silence until Gavin had ceased his exclamations.

“Please, don’t tell anyone about this.” Jack met the journalist’s gaze. “I don’t want to deal with the attention it’d bring. And I don’t want Geoff or—or the merman to deal with it, either. God knows what people would do if they found out.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gavin gawked at them, shook his head, and pulled a phone from his pocket. “I know _just_ who to call—”

Geoff lunged at the younger man, knocking the phone from his hands and sending the object flying several feet away. “No, no, _no_ fucking _way_ am I gonna let you do that. This isn’t going to be some news story, alright? I don’t care if you have some private project going on—you’re _not_ turning this guy into a headline.”

Gavin gaped at Geoff, looking offended at the latter’s outburst. "No, you bloody sausage, I want to _help_!" He huffed. "If I was going to try something like that, I wouldn’t have done it _right in front of you_.” The lad paused, still.. _pouting_ , is the only word that came to Geoff’s mind. “If you don’t already have a plan, I can get some help. _Good_ help. Nobody that would do the things you’re afraid they’d do. Promise.”

Geoff and Jack exchanged a long glance, residual anger and thick concern, respectively, flaring in their eyes. The two seemed to silently communicate, each battling their own internal debate while simultaneously trying to read the other’s expression.

Finally, Geoff turned back to Gavin, throwing his hands up. The latter had seemed sincere enough, and since he was already here, they didn’t really have much of a choice—Geoff could only hope he wouldn’t screw them over. "Alright, fine,” he snapped. “You better not get the media or the government or any of that shit involved with this. Because no, we _don’t_ have a plan.” He paused, blowing out a puff of air. “So what have you got?"

Gavin retrieved his phone from the beach, brushed off the sand with a huff, and then thumbed through it without looking at Geoff. "I know a guy." He held the phone up to his ear. Several ticks of silence passed, and then, "Hey, Ray. You're _not_ gonna believe _this_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone listens to Ryan (for the first and, potentially, last time).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second and last of the setup chapters. Apologies if it's rushed or choppy—I'm anxious to get the plot rolling!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! <3

Even though he was sitting at his desk, he wasn’t exactly being what one would call ‘productive’. There was something serene about watching fish swim, okay? Perhaps that was slightly odd, considering it wasn’t really any different than watching a dog walk, or a bird hop around. But he loved it nonetheless; he loved how they could hover in one place and then dart off with the simple flick of a fin or tail. It was relaxing. Water, in general, had a certain sense of relaxation to it. He found himself holding his tilted head up with a hand, completely zoning out as he watched the colorful fish glide effortlessly through the water.

“You don’t look like you’re working,” a teasing voice cut in, snapping Ray out of his haze and grounding him. The source of said voice stepped in between his desk and the tank across the room, with one eyebrow raised and fond humor in his eyes, which effectively prevented him from watching.

Ray lifted his eyes to his partner (his _lab_ partner, okay, don’t get any ideas) and smiled lazily, making an effort to straighten up some. “Yeah, guess not. What about you? Any groundbreaking discoveries that’ll make us rich as fuck?”

“Unfortunately not.” Ryan slid into the chair on the other side of Ray’s desk, leaning forward and tapping the untouched papers. “Not gonna lie, I was _hoping_ you might have some numbers for me about how efficient these are, but…” He shrugged and rolled his eyes, although the action held no real malice. “Disappointed once again. Why do I keep you around?”

Ray stuck out his lower lip. “Aw, come on. More like, what would you do without me?”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Ryan replied, crossing his arms loosely. “Well, maybe _try_ to accomplish something today? They really want us to get some information back to them ASAP.”

The lad sighed, picking up one of the papers and barely skimming over it. “Yeah, this spill is pretty bad. The radius on this thing is ridiculous.” He set the page down and looked back at Ryan. “I’ll wrap up the tests before the day’s over, alright? Promise. I don’t know if it’ll help them clean it up any faster—”

“—but trying to find a way is what we’re here for,” Ryan finished for him. He stood, and made his way over to the fish tank that had captured Ray’s attention. “Not that you need a break, Mr. ‘I’m going to zone out and watch the fish now’, but if you’re hungry we can go grab something to eat before you do that testing. It’s getting pretty late.”

“Is it really?” Ray wiggled his computer mouse and frowned at the time in the corner when it flashed to life. “Well shit. I really am a nonproductive asshole.”

Ryan laughed. “Yeah you are. So, do you—”

He was interrupted by the ringing of Ray’s phone. At first, the latter was just going to silence it, but upon seeing who was calling he sighed and stood up. “Sorry, I better take this. It’s Gavin—remember him, that British dude?—and he was at the beach today. Might have something worth hearing.” As he walked towards the edge of the room, he added, “Or, well, it might just be some dumb story, knowing him.” Ray held his phone up to his ear. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Ray. You’re _not_ gonna believe _this_.”

“Oh yeah?” Ray tilted his head curiously.

“We found a merman!”

…

“You… What? Come on, Gavin, I was talking to Ryan. If you have something important to say, let’s get on with it.”

“What? No! This _is_ important!” Gavin paused, and then in a much more grave tone he continued, “Ray, I’m being serious. I was walking along the beach, y’know, taking some photos without any volunteers or animals or any of that, just focusing on the damage to the beach itself and—anyway, I found these two guys and they, well, they found this merman! No joke, I promise!”

Ray was quiet for a moment, still unsure about the legitimacy of his friend’s words. “What do you want me to do?”

“Well, these guys are worried that people will, like… Here, y’know what, why don’t I—”

There was shuffling for a moment, and then Ray was confronted with an unfamiliar voice.

“Hi—Ray, right? My name is Jack. My friend Geoff and I volunteered to help with cleaning up the spill.” He paused. “I’ve been doing this sort of thing for a long time—helping animals, environmental work, that kind of stuff. And I’ve never seen anything like this. I promise Gavin isn’t pulling your leg—we’ve got an actual, living merman here. He’s not conscious, but he’s definitely breathing. Problem is, I don’t want him shipped off to some government facility to be experimented on or any of that bullshit.” Another pause. “I’m not sure who you are or what you do, but Gavin thinks you can help. Can you?”

Stunned, Ray began walking towards Ryan, who turned towards him as he approached. Concern flickered in the taller man’s eyes when he saw Ray’s dumbfounded expression.

“Uh, y-yeah, okay,” Ray said, finally. “I _really_ hope you’re not bullshitting me here.”

“I’m not,” Jack replied, without hesitation.

“Okay.” Ray took a deep breath, looking up into Ryan’s eyes as he spoke. “Well. If you say so. Yeah, I… I can help. Where are you guys at?”

 

* * *

 

And that was how Ryan and Ray ended up ditching their remaining workload for the day (along with dinner) and driving to the beach. Ryan had been just as skeptical as Ray at first, but after the latter affirmed that Gavin had sounded strangely genuine, and that the Jack fellow had had a pleading sort of edge to his tone, the pair decided that they might as well check it out. Neither would admit it, but deep down they bubbled with a new kind of excited, hopeful anticipation—because _what if Gavin was telling the truth_?

They crawled along the beach (both praying that their ‘creepy, stereotypical’ white company van wouldn’t get stuck in the sand) just as the sun was slipping below the horizon. Ray grimaced as he took in the state of the filthy water.

“How far down did they say they were?” Ryan asked, swerving around what looked like a particularly soft patch of sand.

“Couple of miles.” Ray’s leg was bouncing anxiously. He exhaled sharply. “ _Man_ , they better be telling the truth about this. Can you imagine? _Merpeople_?”

The corners of Ryan’s lips twitched into a smile. “I’ve been trying not to,” he admitted.

“No?” Ray glanced at him. “Well, I did enough of it for the both of us. And let me tell you, it would be _pretty fucking sweet_.”

The gent opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly his face sharpened with interest and he pointed. “There.”

Ray followed the extended finger and his gaze settled on a small cluster of people. As the van came closer, he could recognize Gavin and make out two others. Ray was slipping out of the van before it had even reached a complete stop, and met Gavin halfway, offering him a lopsided grin. The two other men joined them shortly, and finally, Ryan.

“This is Geoff, and Jack,” Gavin introduced, gesturing to each respectively. “And that’s Ray, and—”

“Ryan Haywood.” He extended a hand to Geoff first, who was looking at him with nothing remotely akin to trust, and afterwards to Jack. “Ray and I work together.”

“Marine biologists,” Ray added helpfully.

“So we know what we’re doing.”

“Sort of. Sometimes.”

“Right.” Ryan shot Ray a glance, lips twitching into a slight smirk. “So! Let’s get to it, shall we? No time to waste, I’m sure.”

That was true. As excited as they were about the idea of discovering a merman, the circumstances were not as delightful. This had only happened because of an oil spill; the merman was likely ill because of it—potentially fatally so. ‘No time to waste’ was dreadfully accurate.

“Right.” Jack turned back towards the direction the three had come from, where an unmoving figure was still lying. “Over here.”

The group walked over to the creature, and Ray’s reaction was almost involuntary—until that moment, there was no guarantee that Gavin hadn’t been lying.

Well, what do you know, he hadn’t been.

Ray nudged at Ryan repeatedly, grabbing and shaking the taller’s arm and shooting him a grin equivalent to that of a child in a candy store.

His partner returned the gesture (to a slightly calmer extent), although there was concern in his blue eyes. “We can geek out later,” he told Ray, moving quickly to crouch next to the merman. “Obviously I have nothing to go off of, but it can’t be good for him to be out of water for this long. Plus the probable oil poisoning?” He glanced up at the others. “Not good. His breathing is already very faint; if we don’t hurry I can’t guarantee that he’ll make it.”

“No kidding.” That was Geoff, with an edge to his tone. “So let’s hurry it up.”

Ryan nodded, and slipped his arms underneath the merman. Jack moved around to the other side and did the same; together they lifted him and started moving towards the van. Ray ran ahead of them to open the back doors. After settling the merman in, the other five faced each other once more.

“Ray, Gavin, stay in the back,” Ryan ordered, already moving towards the driver’s seat. “You too, Jack. I’ve only got two spots up here.” He leaned into the van only to pull out again a moment later to toss Ray a water bottle. “His tail felt awfully dry; I can’t imagine that’s a good sign. Try to get some moisture back in there. We’re not going to lose him, alright?”

With that, the gent returned to the driver’s seat and the others, too, burst into action. Ray, Gavin, and Jack clambered into the back seat and Geoff joined Ryan up front. And then, after the doors were all pulled shut, they were off.

While the men in the back worked diligently to dampen the merman’s tail and skin, Geoff was busy borderline interrogating Ryan.

“A marine biologist, you said?” He watched Ryan out of the corner of his eye, mouth pressed into a thin line.

“That’s right.”

“And… you’re not gonna, like, experiment on him or anything, yeah?” Geoff turned his head to properly look at the other man then, uncertainty a thick veil over his tired blue eyes.

Ryan drummed his fingers against the wheel, frowning slightly as he contemplated how to word his response. “If you think I’m going to push his limits to see what he can and can’t handle, then you’re wrong,” he said carefully. “There are certain tests we’ll _have_ to run in order to help him, but that’s taking from what’s already there instead of throwing something at him and recording the result of it. I can’t lie—once he’s cleaned up, I’d certainly enjoy studying him, but that would be strictly observational. No poking or prodding or anything remotely inhumane.” He took a moment to pull his eyes from the road, meeting Geoff’s gaze. “Bottom line is, I would never intentionally harm him. This is an incredible discovery.”

For a long few seconds, Geoff was quiet. And then, “Alright.” He relaxed a bit in his seat, crossing his arms loosely. “Just making sure we’re on the same page here.”

 

 

* * *

 

By the time they got back to the lab, the stars were out—although concealed by wispy clouds—and there wasn’t even the tiniest bit of moonlight cast over the world. Ryan pulled into the garage and cut the engine, trying to organize his thoughts to decide on the best course of action. The five of them exited the van and again gathered by the back, most looking at Ryan expectantly.

“Okay.” He clapped his hands together once. “So, here’s the plan…”

 

The next two hours were mostly blurs. Ryan helped Geoff, Jack, and Gavin move the merman to a proper cleaning tub, before leaving them to remove what they could of the external oil and joining Ray, who he’d sent to prepare one of their few large on-site tanks. In the one they’d decided to use, there was an intricate rock structure—designed to provide privacy for any animals kept there—that protruded past the surface and created a flat area that people could walk around on. It connected to the far wall, where there was a plain door for easy access. Overall, it was a two-story construction; the tank itself was a cylinder, with a radius that was much larger than its height. It was made entirely of glass, save for the wall with the door. Downstairs, the water went from the ground to the ceiling, whereas upstairs gave them a view slightly above the surface. Ryan thought it would be the best fit, what with the rocky landing and all, considering the merman was a mammal and would subsequently need to be kept slightly above water until he woke up. Plus, with the door it was incredibly easy for them to get to him.

After ensuring that the water was clean and of the proper temperature and salinity, the two marine biologists rejoined the other four, who were almost finished with the cleaning process. The merman already looked considerably better than he had when he was first discovered. His tail was still somewhat duller than Ryan thought it was supposed to be, but his skin and hair were free of oil, which was certainly a vast improvement.

As he waited for them to finish, Ryan took a moment to really look at the merman. His body was slightly more streamlined than that of a human, and his fingers seemed a bit long and were webbed. His orange scales didn’t just abruptly cut off at his lower waist—rather, they slowly petered out, along with appearing along his elbows and on either side of his neck to behind his ears.

Even once they'd done what they could as far as cleanup went, they weren't finished. They continued to work tirelessly into the night, trying to flush out any oil the merman might have ingested.  Periodically, Ray took the merman’s vitals, while Ryan ran a short series of blood tests. Everyone was exhausted by the time he was satisfied with the stability of the merman, and practically asleep on their feet as they carried him upstairs to the tank.

Afterwards, the group had no complaints about crashing for the night (well, more realistically speaking, the _morning_ ). They assembled what chairs they could find side-by-side in an attempt to create beds of some sort, and curled up in the most uncomfortable of positions—but they were far too tired to care.

Only Ryan was left dutifully awake, sitting on the ground and leaning against the glass of the tank. Half-lidded eyes were trained on the part of the merman’s tail that dipped into the water, gently swaying back and forth. A small part of him wanted (and recognized that he _needed_ ) to sleep, but for the most part he couldn’t bring himself to try. The day had turned out to be far too exciting. He was buzzing with energy despite being only half conscious at the same time. Above all else, Ryan couldn’t bear the thought of being asleep when the merman woke up. And so, he waited, listening to the soft sounds of his new companions (and Ray, who was definitely not new) as they slept.


End file.
